Robert David Levin (born October 13, 1947) is an American classical pianist,

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

, and composer. He was a professor of music at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

from 1994 to 2014 and the artistic director of the Sarasota Music Festival from 2007 to 2017.

Education

Born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, Levin attended the

Brooklyn Friends School Brooklyn Friends School is a school at 375 Pearl Street in Downtown Brooklyn, New York City. Brooklyn Friends School (BFS) is an independent, college preparatory Quaker school serving a culturally diverse educational community of approximately ...

and Andrew Jackson High School, and spent his junior year studying music with

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher, conductor and composer. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organis ...

in Paris. He attended

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

, where he earned his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' in 1968 with a thesis entitled ''The Unfinished Works of W. A. Mozart''. Levin took private lessons at Chatham Square Music School, Conservatoire National de Musique and the Fontainebleau School of Music in: * piano, with Jan Gorbaty, Louis Martin, Alice Gaultier-Léon,

Jean Casadesus Jean Claude Michel Casadesus (17 July 1927 – 20 January 1972) was a French classical pianist. He was the son of the renowned pianists Robert and Gaby Casadesus, and grandnephew of Henri Casadesus and Marius Casadesus. Jean Casadesus was born i ...

Clifford Curzon Sir Clifford Michael Curzon CBE (né Siegenberg; 18 May 19071 September 1982) was an English classical pianist. Curzon studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and subsequently with Artur Schnabel in Berlin and Wanda Landowska and ...

and

Robert Casadesus Robert Marcel Casadesus (; 7 April 1899 – 19 September 1972) was a renowned 20th-century France, French pianist and composer. He was the most prominent member of a Casadesus, distinguished musical family, being the nephew of Henri Casadesus an ...

* organ, with Nadia Boulanger *

solfège In music, solfège (British English or American English , ) or solfeggio (; ), also called sol-fa, solfa, solfeo, among many names, is a mnemonic used in teaching aural skills, Pitch (music), pitch and sight-reading of Western classical music, W ...

, with

Seymour Bernstein Seymour Bernstein (born April 24, 1927) is an American pianist, composer, and teacher. He is the subject of the documentary '' Seymour: An Introduction'' directed by the actor Ethan Hawke. Biography Bernstein was born in Newark, New Jersey and ...

, Louis Martin and Annette Dieudonné *

counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

, with

Suzanne Bloch Suzanne Bloch (August 9, 1907 – January 29, 2002) was a Swiss-American musician and an influential pioneer of Early Music Revival during the 20th century. Biography Suzanne Bloch was born in Geneva in 1907 into the family of composer Ernest B ...

and Nadia Boulanger * composition, with

Stefan Wolpe Stefan Wolpe (25 August 1902, Berlin – 4 April 1972, New York City) was a German-born American composer. He was associated with interdisciplinary modernism, with affiliations ranging from the Bauhaus, Berlin agitprop theater and the kibbutz mov ...

* conducting, with Eleazar de Carvalho

Academic career

After graduating from Harvard, Levin was named head of the theory department at the

Curtis Institute of Music The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, a Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on a full scholarshi ...

. He was subsequently appointed associate professor of music and coordinator of theory instruction at the

SUNY Purchase The State University of New York at Purchase, commonly referred to as Purchase College or SUNY Purchase, is a Public college, public Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Purchase, New York. Established in 1967 by G ...

, and full professor in 1975. From 1986 to 1993, he served as professor of piano at the

Hochschule für Musik Freiburg The Hochschule für Musik Freiburg ("University of Music Freiburg or Freiburg Conservatory of Music") is a public music academy subsidized by the State of Baden-Württemberg for academic research and artistic and pedagogical training in music. ...

in Germany. In 1993 he became professor of music at his alma mater, Harvard University, where he remains Professor Emeritus. In 1994 he was made Dwight P. Robinson Jr Professor of the Humanities at Harvard, and was a head tutor from 1998 to 2004. In 2012, as Humanitas Visiting Professor of chamber music at

Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities The Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) is an interdisciplinary research centre within the University of Cambridge. Founded in 2001, CRASSH came into being as a way to create interdisciplinary dialogue across ...

(CRASSH),

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, he gave two lectures, Improvising Mozart and Composing Mozart and a concert with

Academy of Ancient Music The Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) is a British period-instrument orchestra based in Cambridge, England. Founded by harpsichordist Christopher Hogwood in 1973, it was named after an 18th-century organisation of the same name (originally the A ...

. Levin's academic career has included teaching and tutoring performance practice (especially involving

keyboard instrument A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played using a keyboard, a row of levers that are pressed by the fingers. The most common of these are the piano, organ, and various electronic keyboards, including synthesizers and digital piano ...

s and conducting, with an emphasis on the Classical period) in addition to music history and theory. He currently holds the position of Hogwood Fellow with the Academy of Ancient Music.

Contributions to composition

Levin has completed or reconstructed a number of eighteenth-century works, especially unfinished compositions by

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

and

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

. His completions of several unfinished Mozart works, including the

Requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...

in D minor and ''

Great Mass in C minor ''Great Mass in C minor'' (), K. 427/417a, is the common name of the musical setting of the mass by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, which is considered one of his greatest works. He composed it in Vienna in 1782 and 1783, aged 24-25, after his marriag ...

'', are considered his most important achievements. In the Mozart Requiem, he reconstructed an "Amen"

fugue In classical music, a fugue (, from Latin ''fuga'', meaning "flight" or "escape""Fugue, ''n''." ''The Concise Oxford English Dictionary'', eleventh edition, revised, ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson (Oxford and New York: Oxford Universit ...

from Mozart's own sketches.

John Eliot Gardiner Sir John Eliot Gardiner (born 20 April 1943) is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, especially the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage of 2000, performing Church cantata (Bach), Bach's church ...

commissioned him to write missing orchestral parts to five movements of

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

s by Bach, such as '' Ach! ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe''. As a performer, he is best known as a soloist in Classical-era piano

concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The ...

s in general, and those of Mozart and

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

in particular, in which he robustly re-creates performance practice of the composers' time such as by improvising

cadenza In music, a cadenza, (from , meaning cadence; plural, ''cadenze'' ) is, generically, an improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist(s), usually in a "free" rhythmic style, and often allowing virtuosic display ...

s and shorter embellishments in the composers' style. Levin has composed several works, including the following: * Two clarinet sonatas (1961; 1967–68) * Two Short Piano Pieces (1966–67) * Bassoon Sonata (1965–66) * Woodwind Quintet (1965) * Piano Quartet (1964–65) * Piano Sonata (1962)

Awards

* Prix

Lili Boulanger Marie-Juliette Boulanger (; 21 August 189315 March 1918), professionally known as Lili Boulanger (), was a French composer and musician who was the first female winner of the Grand Prix de Rome composition prize. Her older sister was the noted ...

in 1966 and 1971 * Bach Medal (2018) * Golden Mozart Medal of the Mozarteum Salzburg (2024)

Completions and reconstructions of fragments by Mozart

* Requiem in D minor K. 626 (also historically completed by

Franz Xaver Süssmayr Franz Xaver Süssmayr or Süßmayr (; 1766 – September 17, 1803), also anglicized as Suessmayr, was an Austrian composer and conductor. Popular in his day, he is now known primarily as the composer who completed Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's unfini ...

) * Mass in C minor ("The Great") K. 427 (also historically completed by Alois Schmitt and reconstructed into a performable version by a number of composers, including H. C. Robbins Landon, Franz Beyer and

Richard Maunder Charles Richard Francis Maunder (23 November 1937 – 5 June 2018) was a British mathematician and musicologist. Early life Maunder was educated at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe, and Jesus College, Cambridge, before going on to complet ...

) * Larghetto and Allegro in E-flat major for two pianos K. deest (also historically completed by Maximilian Stadler and

Paul Badura-Skoda Paul Badura-Skoda (6 October 1927 – 25 September 2019) was an Austrian pianist. Career A student of Edwin Fischer, Badura-Skoda first rose to prominence by winning first prize in the Austrian Music Competition in 1947. In 1949, he performed w ...

) * Rondo in A major for

basset clarinet The basset clarinet is member of the clarinet family similar to the usual soprano clarinet but longer and with additional keys to enable playing several additional lower notes. Typically a basset clarinet has keywork going to a low (written) C o ...

and string quartet, K. 581a * Allegro in B-flat major for basset clarinet and string quartet, K. 516c * Allegro in B-flat major for keyboard, K. 400 (also historically completed by Maximilian Stadler) * Allegro in G minor for keyboard, K. 312/590d (also historically completed by an unknown composer) * Sonata Movement in C major, K. 42 (35a) * Suite in C major for keyboard, K. 399: Sarabande * Concerto for Violin and Piano K. Anh. 56/315f * Horn Concerto in D major, K. 412 (also historically completed by Franz Xaver Süssmayr) * Rondo for horn and orchestra in E-flat major K. 371 * Sinfonia Concertante for oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon K. 297b (reconstruction of possible original version for flute, oboe, horn, and bassoon)

Recordings

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

. Cello Sonatas. Robert Levin with Steven Isserlis. Hyperion Records Limited * Ludwig van Beethoven. Piano Concertos. Robert Levin with Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique,

Archiv Produktion Archiv Produktion is a classical music record label of German origin. It originated in 1948 as a classical label for the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft (DGG), and in 1958 Archiv was established as a subsidiary of DGG, specialising in recordin ...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

. Piano Concertos K271 & K414. Robert Levin with

The Academy of Ancient Music The Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) is a British period-instrument orchestra based in Cambridge, England. Founded by harpsichordist Christopher Hogwood in 1973, it was named after an 18th-century organisation of the same name (originally the A ...

Christopher Hogwood Christopher Jarvis Haley Hogwood (10 September 194124 September 2014) was an English Conducting, conductor, harpsichordist, and Musicology, musicologist. Founder of the early music ensemble the Academy of Ancient Music, he was an authority on h ...

. Played on a

Walter Walter may refer to: People and fictional characters * Walter (name), including a list of people and fictional and mythical characters with the given name or surname * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–19 ...

fortepiano replica by

Paul McNulty Paul Joseph McNulty (born January 31, 1958) is an American attorney and university administrator who is currently the ninth president of Grove City College. He served as the Deputy Attorney General of the United States from March 17, 2006, to ...

Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre (commonly referred to as L'Oiseau-Lyre) is a French music publishing company and a classical music record label that specialises in Early music, Early and Baroque music. It was founded in 1932 as a publisher of scholar ...

* Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Piano Concertos K453 & K466. Robert Levin with The Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood. Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Piano Concertos K456 & K459. Robert Levin with The Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood. Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The Piano Sonatas. Robert Levin. Played on Mozart's own piano by

Anton Walter Gabriel Anton Walter (5 February 1752 – 11 April 1826) was a builder of pianos. The ''Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' describes him as "the most famous Viennese piano maker of his time".Latcham (2009) Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and S ...

. ECM New Series. *

Franz Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

. The Last 4 Piano Trios: H 15 no 27-30. Robert Levin with Vera Beths and Anner Bylsma. SC Vivarte Series 53120 *

Henri Dutilleux Henri Paul Julien Dutilleux (; 22 January 1916 – 22 May 2013) was a French composer of late 20th-century classical music. Among the leading French composers of his time, his work was rooted in the Impressionistic style of Debussy and R ...

. D'ombre et de silence (Piano Sonata, Preludes, etc.). ECM New Series 2105 *

. Keyboard Works. Robert Levin,

Trevor Pinnock Trevor David Pinnock (born 16 December 1946 in Canterbury, England) is a British harpsichordist and conductor. He is best known for his association with the period-performance orchestra The English Concert, which he helped found and direct ...

, Robert Hill, Peter Watchorn, Edward Aldwell, Evgeni Koroliov. Played on an antique harpsichord and organ. Label: Hanssler Classic. *Franz Schubert. Piano Sonatas. Robert Levin. Played on Johann Fritz 1825 fortepiano. Sony Classical. *Franz Schubert. Complete Piano Trios. Noah Bendix-Balgley (violin), Peter Wiley (cello). Le Palais des Dégustateurs *J.S. Bach. Six Partitas BWV 825 - 830. Le Palais des Dégustateurs. * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Trio in G major K 496. Three unfinished movements for trio K 442 completed by Robert Levin. Robert Levin (piano) - Hilary Hahn (violin) - Alain Meunier (cello). Le Palais des Dégustateurs

References

External links

"Musician with a Mission"
by Janet Tassel, ''

Harvard Magazine ''Harvard Magazine'' is an independently edited magazine and separately incorporated affiliate of Harvard University. It is the only publication covering the entire university and regularly distributed to all graduates, faculty, and staff. The ...

'' May–June 1995, pp. 32–39
Profile
Rayfield Allied
The Improvisational Brain
''

Seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

'' article about improvisation, heavily featuring Levin *Derek Bailey's documentary ''On The Edge – Improvisation in Music'' (1991), , , Levin and

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levin, Robert 1947 births Living people Musicians from Brooklyn Classical musicians from New York (state) Brooklyn Friends School alumni Harvard College alumni Curtis Institute of Music faculty State University of New York at Purchase faculty Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg American classical pianists American male classical pianists American male pianists 20th-century American pianists 21st-century American pianists Fortepianists American musicologists Jewish musicologists Mozart scholars 20th-century American classical composers Andrew Jackson High School (Queens) alumni